TikTok's competitor to YouTube, YouTube Shorts, is released now worldwide. The service was first launched in India last year, before expanding to around 26 countries, including the US and the UK. Now YouTube Shorts, which is still on version beta, is available in more than 100 countries around the world where YouTube is already available.
YouTube Shorts looks like TikTok as a small video selection platform, but Google's service promotes the integration of Shorts with the wider YouTube ecosystem as a key component. The company recently added the ability for Shorts creators to experiment with YouTube video audio and says it is exploring ways to quickly add Shorts links to the YouTube videos they have used.
Ironically, while YouTube tries to mimic the TikTok format, TikTok is experimenting with formats that are closer to YouTube's traditional focus. It recently tripled the maximum video duration to three minutes for everyone and released applications on TV platforms such as Android TV and Fire TV.
